Of The Unknown
by keotey1228
Summary: 'The end of the world started the day I got in that cab. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning. I was born in Mercy Hospital, New York, New York. Too far back? Thought so. My name is Kim Crawford.'
1. Never Crossed the Bridge

The end of the world started the day I got in that cab. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning.

I was born in Mercy Hospital, New York, New York. Too far back? Thought so.

My name is Kimberley Crawford. I was born in New York, raised in New York, and am a current resident of New York. But call me that, you'll see just what I have learned about fighting while living in New York.

I live with my mom and step-dad in a cramped two bedroom house. I also share a room with my little sister, Mayzy.

She's an angel, but don't let that fool you. When the parents are gone, the halo comes off, and the devil horns come out. I talk from experience.

When I don't do what she says, she'll lie down on the ground and scream. Then blame me for pushing her. That's Mayzy, the eight-year old death of me.

I used to have an older brother, Luke. He disappeared about a week after I was born.

My parents say he felt abandoned and ran away. My friends say he ran away for some reason that had nothing to do with me, to make me feel better. The bullies at school say I killed him.

What do I believe happened to him? Who knows?

But back to the cab.

It started as a normal day. I left my dad's house after our ordinary fight over a boy at school who can be even blinder than a blind man. I mean, get a clue! He gives me the worst advice, as always.

I cart wheeled to the door, just because he hates that, and stepped outside. I turned around and screamed yet another insult at him. Then I slammed the door, breaking the 12th one this year. New record.

I marched down the street, ripping off one of those stupid plastic flags from a mailbox, biting off the end. Note to self: add to collection.

I walked down the oh-so familiar street. I saw the old lady who never mows her lawn so it looks like a forest has grown around it.

She used to have a man who came to cut her lawn twice a week. I was walking past him on the way to the store when he quit.

"I quit!" He screamed getting into his van. I was walking past him and he drove by me.

"Wait! Her lawn will grow as long as her mustache. Please, just mow her effing lawn."

"She's one charred cookie too late! Tell the old hag, I quit!" He yelled back to me.

'Oops.'

Now her lawn is taller than her. She was about to sit in her chair that was broken in half, as she did so many times. She called to me for some cookies. I pointed to my watch, motioning that I had somewhere to get to, instead of eating coal and water with flies in it.

She misunderstood me. She looked on the clock that had been oddly placed outside, and called out the time. I sighed.

I did the 'look at that fake thing I'm pointing at' thing. And she fell for it. I laughed as I jogged away.

I walked into town, maybe half a mile away. Tired, as always, I called for a cab. It showed up maybe 10 minutes later. I got in and told him the address of my house.

"Are you sure you have enough money for that kiddo? That's a long way…" He raised his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes at the same thing I get every time I get into a cab. Cab drivers are totally blatant.

I buckled my seat belt and sat back. The driver was still looking for me in the mirror.

"What are you waiting for?" I growled, a little meaner than intentioned.

"Sorry, you look like… never mind." He shook his head and started the car. Blatant.

He drove away from the city and into the boring country. Cows grazing, pigs snorting, farmers being attacked by sheep. Yup, boring.

We stopped at the small drawbridge. A few cars on each side of us, and some in the front.

"Uh oh…" The cab driver breathed under his breath. He looked into the rearview mirror.

"What?" I asked.

"Famulas…" He whispered, still looking out the front, as if he wasn't scaring me half to death.

"What are farmulas? What's going on?" I asked. He flipped around to look at me.

"You tell me…" He said and turned back to the front, hitting the gas. I screamed as he swerved toward the bridge that was just lowering. We made it to the middle as it was only few feet away from the other bridge.

I flipped around to see a few black vans with black tinted windows doing the same thing.

"What's going to happen?" The cab driver asked.

"What are you talking about? What's going to happen?" I said with an unsteady voice. He swerved around, trying to get around the vans which were gaining speed.

"December 13, 2012. What's going to happen? What are you going to do?" He screamed, head jerking from me, the wheel, the mirror, to the vans and back to me.

"I'm probably gonna have a sleep over with my friends." I said, and then it hit me.

"How do you know my birthday?" I asked. He shrugged his shoulders. Either putting it off because it was bad or saying that he was upset he didn't get an invite. I'm gonna go with option 1.

He sighed, as if he had a bad thought. He reached his hand over to the glove box and pulled out an old paper. He shoved it in my arms and slowed down some.

"Roll down your window." He said quietly, as if someone would hear him over my screaming.

"Why?" I asked. As if I would listen.

"Do it!" He screamed. I did what I was told. Hey, you would too if you saw the face he gave me.

"But…" I was cut off by the cab driver's flick of his wrist. He turned the steering wheel to the right and rammed through the guardrail, the one that's supposed to keep cars from plunging into the water. But I think that it made more damage with it there than without it.

The car flew a few feet before I fully understood what was happening, and started screaming.

"Brace yourself!" said the cab driver. I responded something real intelligent back.

"Ahhhhh!" Once we hit the water, the driver pushed me out the open window. I slipped outside the seatbelt that was unloosened around me once underwater. I kicked and waved my arms to try and get to the surface.

When I was finally able to breathe again, I realized that the cab driver wasn't next to me trying to explain what just happened, because I needed to know.

I held my breath and dove down for the headlights, barely visible within the murky abyss. I made it about 2 feet before I swallowed a gallon of water and resurfaced.

I dove back down but couldn't see the headlights or the car. He was gone.

I bobbed to the top of the water and looked up to the bridge. Many people were around the edge screaming, talking into cell phones, and looking around for the car, as if it would suddenly resurface, with us inside saying, "Yeah, we do this every day here in New York!"

But a few men looking calm, cool, and collected stood out. They wore all black, coats, ties, shirts, pants, socks, shoes, and as far as I could tell, they all wore sunglasses. They all look like they had the personality to fit their outfit.

As if they were thinking, 'Stupid kid falling off a bridge! I'm gonna be late!'

I swam closer to one of the pillars, and saw a rusty looking ladder hanging off of it. It spiraled all the way to the top, minus the parts that had been unattached from the structure.

'If I survive this staircase, I will personally go to my father, and give him a hug.' I thought. The staircase held up as much as I thought it would. In other words, not at all.

'Well, that worked…" I thought to myself sarcastically.

'Where's another ladder when you need one?' I flopped away from the falling pieces of metal. After what seemed like the 53rd ladder, I found one that could actually withstand my weight.

Hey, I'm not fat, don't get me wrong. I weigh as much as an ordinary 12 year old should.

I almost fell maybe once, twice, maybe 12 times. I could just imagine my guy best friend, Jack, saying something that would make me punch him to hide the fact that I might like him.

"Come on Lai. Get your butt up to the top. If you die, I'll kill you." I could just imagine him smirking at me. He always called me Lai, because of my hatred for my first name.

At the top, I realized that there were no bystanders waiting to take me to the hospital. But there were the people in all black.

'Famulas.' The cab driver had called them. All of them were getting into their black vans; the ones that matched that matched themselves.

"… now for the family." was the last thing said by them as they all got into their cars and drove off. What do they want? Why did they chase us? What were they after? Why did the driver drive off the bridge? What happened to that paper?

I reached into my soaking wet pocket and pulled out the surprisingly readable letter. I looked at the front of and envelope, and saw nothing on the front. I opened it and took out a piece of parchment.

It was weird, because the envelope was new, and the letter looked old.

The first sentence makes me wet the bed to this very day.

Dearest Lailia Crawford,  
>the end of the world is closer than we had hoped, and you are the one to save it.<p> 


	2. Definitely Not My sister

**There are going to be lots of OCs, but none are really important. It is also AU if you haven't noticed. Since no one even likes this story, I wasn't gonna post it. The only reason I'm posting this story is so my friend in Alabama can read it. **

…

**Reading to someone over the phone is weird.**

Everyone says to always tell the truth. Well, I have something for you. Why is it that every time I tell the truth, I get sent to my room?

I ran home as fast as I could. I skipped waving to the old lady and laughing as her cat kept climbing through the top of her shirt.

I slammed the door and started to scream for my mom. She came running in, along with my step-dad checking me over and fussing about every little scratch I had.

"… but the cab was gone. Oh! And I have this note!" I reached in my pocket for the note, but found only a piece of waterlogged gum.

"Darn it!" I screamed.

"Why are you all wet?" My mom came back with a towel and draped it around my shoulders.

"I told you," I shook the towel off. "The cab driver drove the cab off the bridge. With me still inside!"

"Mommy," Mayzy peeked around the corner. "Why is Kimmy acting funny?" My mom turned around and started to fuss over her.

"Go back to bed, sweetie," She said in a soothing, motherly voice. "Kim and mommy are just talking."

Mayzy nodded and started to walk back upstairs. My mom stood up and turned to look at me. The second she did, Mayzy stuck her tongue out at me.

"Kim Lailia Crawford!" She screamed at me. "You not only lie to me, tell a crazy story, and ruin your nice clothes, but you had to wake your sister up!"

"But mom," I protested. "I'm not lying, it is crazy, I'm sorry, but it wasn't my fault, and she's evil!" I pointed towards my sister's room at the end and tried to sound convincing.

"Go to your room and think about what has happened in the last ten minutes!" She pointed towards my room and scooted me closer.

"Seven minutes," I mumbled, and ran up towards my room.

I skipped at least half of the steps on my way up, and didn't even trip once. I had just gotten so good at it, I guess.

I ran past Mayzy who was smiling in her doorway. "Shut up, May," I hissed as I ran past.

"What," She tried to act innocent. "I believe you."

I stopped dead in my tracks. I spun around and walked cautiously back to the door. "What did you say?"

"I said I believe you," She turned and walked into her room. "I don't think you're lying."

I inspected the doorway, making sure there were no traps. I followed her in and stood, eyeing her as she brushed one of her dolls hair. The kind that always get knotted up and cannot get wet. Lesson learned.

"You… you don't?" I sat down slowly on the floor and watched her carefully, as if I had missed something.

"No," She kept brushing her doll and inspecting it. "I believe that a cab actually drove you off a cliff."

"Bridge," I corrected her.

"Whatever," She put her doll on a shelf, repositioned it, and then picked up another. "But I do believe you."

"Why?" I asked. "Why do you believe me?"

"I always knew something like this would happen," She accidently ripped some of the hair and cursed.

"Ya… you did?" I stood up and began to back towards the door, creeped out over my 8 year-old sister.

She looked up from the doll, the head in her hand. "Oops," She smiled. "Guess that doll didn't last long, did it?"

I backed up even farther and ran into something. The door. "What are you talking about?"

"You can't see, can you?" My sister hopped off her bed and began walking towards me. "Oh, how cute!"

I reached behind me and clasped my fingers around the door knob. "_What _are you talking about?" I asked, more sterner.

"I'm talking about your Heminine, dear girl," I scrunched my eyebrows at the 'dear girl' part.

"My, wha…?"

"Heminine," She repeated. "Or in shorter terms, mutation."

I stared into her, as if trying to see if she was joking. "Mutation?"

"You really have no clue, do you?" She ran her fingernails down my cheek and smiled.

"I know that you're not my sister," I turned the knob and yanked the door open. I ran out and didn't look back.

I opened my door and slammed it. Hard.

All was quiet except my heavy breathing. I leaned my ear against the door as if to hear someone coming.

When I thought it was all safe, I turned and walked to my not-so-neat bed, locking the door just in case. I pulled back the covers and jumped on my soft mattress.

For the first ten minutes, I didn't even consider that it was 6:30, and I hadn't eaten. And that my sister was creeping me out in a way totally different from the way she usually does.

I rolled out of bed, literally, and picked myself off the floor.

"You can't hide from fate forever," I heard a soft voice echo through my room. I looked around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

'Fate'. It echoed in my head. I put my hand on my pocket.

"No way," I whispered. I reached my hand in it and pulled out the envelope. "So now you come out."

I stared at the note.

"I will figure this out…" I heard a deep growl, which was followed by a stabbing pain in my gut. "Right after I have dinner."


	3. Found Her

The second I walked downstairs, I knew something was up. My mother would have been standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting to hear what I had to say for myself.

My step-father would have been behind her, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. He knew she went overboard sometimes, and he knew that Mayzy was a little witch, but knew that if he told her, she'd tell him off.

_Mayzy. _Thinking about my sister made me wonder about the droid in her room, pretending to be her. I knew it wasn't her. Mayzy was mean and weird, but not this much.

I opened the fridge, not really caring at the moment, and pulled out the bag of shredded cheese. I reached into the cabinet and grabbed the bag of Tostito chips.

I made my signature, Cheese on Chips, and popped it in the microwave for 32 seconds. I say signature because it's the only thing I can make without something burning and blowing up. Even cereal seemed to turn out wrong.

When the green numbers turned to 0, it didn't beep like it usually did. It turned to 2:15 seconds without me touching it. I tried to open the door, but it was sealed shut.

_Creepy, _I thought. I carefully stepped back from the microwave and started to find something I could use to open the door. I had checked about 4 cabinets when I heard the thud.

I stayed in my crouched position, scared to turn around. I thought to myself about all the scary movies I had seen. The person heard a noise from behind them and turned slowly. They usually turned out dead.

I found my best option and flipped around, on my feet, in a fighting stance. I saw nothing. I looked around my kitchen silently, checking for anything that had changed.

I heard the thud again and realized it wasn't coming from the kitchen. It was coming from the ceiling. The room above it, Mayzy's room.

I grabbed the nearest thing to me, which happened to be a spatula and I carefully and quietly walked towards the stairs. The house was utterly quiet. The thuds had stopped, and not even my footsteps made a sound, which I found quite normal. I had always had light steps.

I stalked up the stairs, slower because of my fear of what might be waiting for me at the top.

When my foot hit the carpet on the second floor, I heard a muffled noise. Not sure of what it was, but where it was coming from, I slowly walked down the hall. I had reached the closed door, the one of which I was sure the noises were coming from.

I waited outside the door for a few minutes. At even intervals, I heard the beep from the microwave as it finished cooking my probably burnt Cheese of Chips before starting over.

The only other sound I heard was the muffled noise again. I just took the chance and slid the door open. The room didn't look any different from when I was last in it. The Mayzy droid was gone and the dolls were in their original places. The only way I knew my last visit in here wasn't part of my imagination was the doll head trying to stay hidden inside the trash can. _The droid was real._

I was about to smile, knowing that I wasn't crazy, when I heard the muffled noise again. My experience with scary movies told me that it came from the closet, as most scary movies have.

I curled my fingers around the handle and looked back around the room. If I died, Mayzy's room was the last thing I'd see. Not much, but it seemed like the less creepiest thing to remember.

I turned the handle and instantly was glad to see my sister tied up with a gag in her mouth. I knew she was my real sister, because I know my sister. I took out her gag and hugged her, making shushing noises to make sure she stayed quiet.

When I backed off, she looked at me, as if questioning I was the real me. I laughed quietly and punched her in the shoulder to let her know I wasn't a droid.

She smiled, obviously relieved and started to explain what happened to her while I untied her.

Apparently, she was attacked by the droid and shoved in the closet. She didn't remember anything after that until when I opened the door, which made me overprotective of my sister.

"May," I whispered super quietly. "We have to get out of here. I don't know what's going on, but I know it's not good."

I grabbed her arms and put her on her feet. I turned to walk out of the closet when she grabbed my hand. I turned.

"What were you going to do with that?" She smiled and pointed to the spatula in my other hand. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.

"Probably kick some droid butt."


	4. Electronics Malfunctioning

Everything downstairs seemed normal now. The microwave had stopped cooking my dinner, which hadn't even cooked a bit. It was still cold.

Kim,

Mark and I went to my mother's for dinner. She's not doing well, so I need to be there for her. I hope you learned what you did wrong and are sorry. I put some leftover meatloaf on the counter for you to eat. Please don't throw it away and eat Cheese of Chips instead, again.

Mayzy,

Sweetie, there is a frozen pizza in the freezer. It's the one you liked. You know how to cook it. Remember: don't let Kimmy touch it. She would somehow make it not cook right if you do.

Love you both.

I frowned at the note. First getting upset at my mother for saying I couldn't cook, even though I knew it was true. Then I wondered why I didn't see the note in the first place.

"What's that?" Mayzy reached to grab it but I held it above my head. I smiled.

"A note from mom," I said. "She and Mark went to Granny's, and said to cook me the frozen pizza in the fridge and you can have the leftover meatloaf."

"Kim," she smirked at me and crossed her arms. "I know you. Mom didn't say that."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I crumpled the note and threw it to the garbage can on the other side of the room.

"I don't know how you can always make that," Mayzy sat down the pizza on the table and took it out of its box.

"I'm just skilled like that," I grabbed the meatloaf and opened the Tupperware. The red slop looked like barf. I opened the cabinet under the sink and put it in the garbage.

"Mom said not to do that," Mayzy said as she preheated the oven. I turned to her.

"How do you know?" My gaze moved to the trashcan. I walked over only to see that it was still crumpled inside the bin. "Did you..?"

"Read your mind?" She smirked at me as the oven beeped, signaling her to put the oven in the microwave. "It seems like that, doesn't it?"

I stared at her for just a second before walking back over to the microwave and popping open the door. I picked up the cold Cheese on Chips and cooked it yet again.

32 seconds later, it beeped like it should have done earlier. I touched it to find that it was burning hot. I dropped the plate on the ground and it shattered my dinner flying across the floor.

Mayzy stared at me and I glared at her smile. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything," She backed away from the broken plate pieces and went to the front closet under the stairs. "I'll get the broom."

"You annoy me so much," I yelled after her. "You know that right?"

"It's what I live for!" She yelled back. I heard the closet door open and the vacuum turn on. I lifted my head out of the cabinet I was looking for the dust pan in.

"May," I groaned. "The vacuum can't suck up the plate pieces!"

"I know that!" She came running into the kitchen with a truly frightened face on. I raised an eyebrow, before I remembered what had happened to the microwave. Could the vacuum have turned on… by itself?

Mayzy ran behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. She looked at me with a face that clearly said, _what the heck is going on?_

I shook my head and mouthed and mouthed, _Tell you later. _I didn't add, _if we don't die first._ I heard the vacuum cleaner louder now, as if it had moved and was now… behind me.

I flipped my head around to see the oven light turn on. Then off. It started flicking on and off faster now. The vacuum cleaner had stopped making noises. It had turned itself off, I guess.

The blender was the next of the kitchen appliances to turn on and start doing its job. It began to blend on level one, but as the microwave started to cook invisible food again, it started going up on levels.

By the time it skidded off the table, the vacuum cleaner had turned back on. The blender had stopped the minute it did, as if too many things were running at once.

I saw the vacuum move around the corner of the kitchen wall and turn toward Mayzy and I. I stood up, pulling Mayzy with me and started to run towards the living room. The TV turned on and started to play SpongeBob. It changed to Criminal Minds as the vacuum turned the same corner it had just turned and started to pursue us again.

I turned to try and race to the door on the other side of the room and came face to face with an iron. I slammed into my face, making my face burn. I fell to the ground and Mayzy screamed as the vacuum sped up and wrapped its cord around her legs. She fell to the ground with her whole, short body covered in the cord.

She looked to me desperately as the vacuum fell to the ground, silent, as the lamp in the living room began to flicker. It went out shortly after I had gotten over my burning face.

The rest of the lights and everything that produced a light started to flicker too. Then, the house went black.

I sat quietly on the ground, stunned. _That couldn't have happened,_ I thought. _Could it?_

"Mayzy?" I called out quietly. I stood and tried to look around the pitch black room. I felt a hand grab my ankle and I screamed for a second, only to feel how little it was.

"Mayzy!" I hissed. I bent down and began to try and unwrap her. The vacuum pulled it pretty tight.

"What, is going on?" Mayzy pronounced each syllable carefully to stress her point.

" ' ," I responded and finally got the cord loosened enough for her to wiggle out. I had expected her to punch me, to yell at me, to ask a million questions to which I had no answers to. But she hugged me, her little body shaking against mine.

"We should leave, shouldn't we?" Mayzy moved her head so she was looking at me even though neither of us could see each other.

"Yeah," I said and sighed. I opened the door and ushered Mayzy outside. The sun had gone down minutes ago because the sky was still a tint bright. Not enough to see more than a few feet in front of you, anyway.

I looked up at the purple and it reminded me of what my face looked like. _Please tell me the burn isn't purple._ I had gotten burned before and my little fingers turned a sickly shade of purple.

"How's your face?" Mayzy didn't even look at me when she asked it.

"Okay, I guess," I hadn't even realized that she said that right after I had thought about it. We walked for a few minutes down the road, past our neighbors' houses before we both realized we had no idea where we were walking to.

"Uh?" Mayzy looked back at me, and I shrugged. I looked down to see a shadow from someone that was standing behind me.

I turned quickly but found no one. I had a feeling that someone was watching us.

"I'll tell you when we get there," I told Mayzy and began to walk, her following.

And that the person was somehow responsible for my terrifying night.


	5. Granny's Got a Message

My parents' car was there when we got to my Granny's house. Oh, I didn't mention that it was on fire, did I? Yeah, it was smoking about two houses away. It didn't look like they got there, because the car was still facing to my grandma's house. But they could have been coming home and it turned in the explosion.

_Explosion? Why did I think that?_

"Kim?" Mayzy looked at me and pointed to our parents' car. "They didn't make it… did they?" I couldn't tell if she meant "make it to grandma's house", or if they were still alive. But I knew what she meant.

"I don't know, Mayz…" I started to run towards my grandma's house, but I slowed to a walk. Something wasn't right. My parents would have still been in the car if they were dead. The fire wasn't nearly hot enough to burn their bodies…

I looked around the street, but other than the burning car, everything seemed normal. I scanned my grandmother's pathway to her front door, which she always left open.

_Maybe, they had got out alive and were in there drinking a smoothie? _I thought as I began my trip to the door. _Yeah, and maybe grandma won't complain about my short-shorts, or my low shirt. Or the amount of skin between my shirt and shorts._

I looked down at my outfit and sighed. I pulled my shirt so that it would cover my stomach and pulled my shorts down a bit to make them look longer. Better than nothing.

I looked behind me and saw Mayzy reach out to the doorknob. Before I could ask for a couple seconds, she opened the door.

The house was a mess, which is a total surprise, considering my grandmother. Everything was everywhere. Food was on the floor (and the ceiling), clothes were strung everywhere, and all of her prized vases were smashed against the walls.

We both looked around a little bit, wondering if grandma was considering reorganizing her whole house. I had mentioned it several times, saying it was too, "old person-y". Now that I think about it, that's probably why she hates me.

I had just rounded a corner when I started to realize that her old lady cat had not come to yap at me like it always did. The little grey ball of fur loves it whenever I come over because she gains a new scratching post.

If the same people who made a fake Mayzy, terrorized my house, and blow-torched my parents' car, had ransacked this house, then they wouldn't have killed the cat. Simple fact number 1: cats are not worth the trouble.

If the cat wasn't killed, it must be with…

"Granny!" I heard Mayzy's shrill voice from the other room. I had ran into the room a second later and saw a patch in the carpet had lifted up revealing a wooden framework underneath. Where my grandmother had crawled out of, was a hole.

She hugged Mayzy and even offered me one. She started to talk real fast. Most of her words made no sense, as if they were made up. Then she turned to me sadly and asked me something simple. "What do you know?"

I looked at her puzzled. _How did she know about what is going on?_ I started to mumble the shortest explanation I could about what had happened today. When I mentioned the stuff that confused me, she just nodded her head, obviously understanding what I was saying.

This was the first time Mayzy had heard anything about my whole "cab" experience, and she was mildly impressed that I was still alive.

When I was finished, she hugged us tight. "Girls, we don't have much time."

She pulled away and took us down into the hole. She closed the door above us and turned on a small lamp. I heard the fur ball hiss, but couldn't see it.

"You already know about the Famulas, a little," She sat down and motioned for us to do the same. "All I can really say about them, is that they are bad. I can send you to someone that can tell you more, but for right now, I'll tell you what I know."

She looked us in the eyes and tiredly started to tell a little story. "The Famulas are after people who have a Heminine. A Heminine is sort of like a... oh, how do you put it?" She seemed to scan over a few options in her head. "A power? Yes, a power over something. Some can control the weather, or plants..."

I scrunched my eyebrows, and thought about the wild mechanical things after me at my house. "Technology?"

"Yes, I suppose so," She smiled, as if happy she was getting through to me. "A Heminine makes people pretty powerful, and the more powerful you are, the more of a threat you are to the Famulas.

"But," I tried to find a way to wrap my brain around it. "What exactly do the Famulas want?"

"Well, power, of course," My grandmother smiled. "To become powerful, they need to get rid of all other powerful people."

I nodded slowly, trying to process it, when an invisible light bulb appeared over my head. "Wait, you mean that I have a Heminine?"

She nodded.

"And Mayzy?" I looked to Mayzy, who was snuggling with Muffin the ferocious cat.

"More than likely," Granny nodded. I frowned and thought for a second. I had so many questions, but I knew we had little time.

"What is our Heminine?" I asked her, finally.

"I'm not sure," Grandma said. "But it usually depends on the Heminine of the parents if they had one…"

"Wait," I interrupted. "Mom and dad had one?"

"I believe your mother had one," she smiled a sad smile. "Your father, on the other hand… I don't think he's even sane enough to have one."

I laughed a small laugh. "What happened to them? And what do you mean if the parents had a Heminine? Can you have one without your parents having one?"

"Famulas…" She waved the first question off, not wanting to speak more of it. "If your parents had one, then you'd probably have one. And, let's say, they had the power over nature. Then, their kids would probably have the power over wild animals."

I nodded, actually understanding.

"But, you can have a Heminine without your parents having one. It's kind of luck with the draw."

"Oh…" I said. "So, kind of like Harry Potter?"

My grandmother rolled her tired eyes. "In that sense, yes. It is sort of like Harry Potter."

We waited for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. I didn't need to ask to know that my grandmother had told us everything she knew.

"So…" I grabbed her attention back. "What do we do know?"

She smiled sadly, as if she was saying goodbye forever. "Your aunt Misty… she will help you."

"Okay," I said, and stood up. "Then let's go now. We can take a plane and get to her. Easy as pie."

She looked down at her old wrinkled hands and rubbed them gingerly. "I am old. I cannot go with you two on your journey."

"No," I said firmly. "You are coming with us!"

She shook her head and grabbed my hands in hers. "You must go. It is your destiny."

"Destiny?" I practically screamed. "I'm just a lame little girl from New York. I have no destiny."

My grandmother gave me "the look". "If you don't leave now, you won't."

She stood shakily and helped Mayzy up. She scooted us both up the ladder and out of the hole in the floor. We stood on the floor above my grandmother's head.

She smiled at us, and I knew what she was implying, but I didn't say it out loud incase Mayzy didn't know.

"What about Muffin?" she asked quietly. My grandmother nodded and called below her into the hole. Said grey rat crawled out and took a big leap onto Mayzy. It curled around her arms, before settling into a sitting position on her shoulder.

"Take good care of her," She smiled at Mayzy and then turned and whispered to me. "Go."


	6. Walk into the City

Not 30 seconds after we left the house did it completely catch on fire.

A small explosion left the whole house in flames, but no one was near enough to hear.

"She knew..." I mumbled. I had never turned around. I heard the explosion and stopped. I didn't want to turn around. I didn't want to see it.

I kept walking.

"Aren't we gonna see if she's okay?" Mayzy yelled, chasing after me. I shook my head and started to pick up my pace.

"Why..?" She caught up and started to jog with me.

"She knew that this would happen." I told her, trying not to let the tears escape my eyes.

"How could she know?" I didn't answer. She didn't pursue any further.

We had hit the city by the time I collapsed. I turned over and looked at the stars. Mayzy crawled up next to me.

"Come on May," I told her. I crawled towards her and started to shake her shoulder. "We gotta find a place to stay."

"No money..." She mumbled. I hit my head on the sidewalk, and winced as I felt blood coming out of my forehead.

"Owe..."

We lied there for a few minutes, catching our breath and giving our legs a break.

"We have to find a place to hide... for now at least." I lifted my head when I knew that blood has stopped coming out of it. "Somewhere where we'll be able to hide and sleep without being found."

I looked around the dimly lit street. Even at 2 or so in the morning, there were plenty of cars out.

We would've been seen, but a small tree gave us cover from a car driving by, or another person walking on the sidewalk on the other side.

"Owe..." I flipped onto my stomach as I felt a small stab of pain on my back. I looked all around me, but saw nothing. The pain ceased and I stood up slowly, wobbling on my legs. "Come on Mayzy..."

I looked down at her, and saw that she had fallen asleep. I sighed and slowly bent down. I put my hands on her shoulders and started to shake her. "Wake up May... I can't carry you."

She breathed hard and moaned. "I'm not that heavy..."

"I'm tired, and yes you are. You look like an 11 year old, at least," I stood up and tapped her leg with my foot. She stayed on the ground and tried to fall asleep again. I looked around the street and saw a dimly-lit alley way. I saw only one thing. A dumpster.

"No way am I getting in a dumpster..." Mayzy mumbled into the ground. I rolled my eyes before thinking about what she said.

"I didn't say anything about the dumpster..." She moved her head to face me. Her tired blue eyes looked up at me before looking directly at the alley.

"You said that we could hide in that dumpster," She started to try and get up. "I can't hide in there."

"I didn't say that..." I put my hand to my head as I started to feel my own heart beat in it. "But let's just hide there... for two hours..." I started to walk, more like stumble, towards our new hiding place.

I saw Mayzy following in the same suit, having no better idea.

I ran straight into the dumpster, and fell to the ground. I lied there, only hearing the metal vibrating and Mayzy laughing at me as she lifted the lid. "I meant to do that..."

"Mmmhhhmmm..." She pushed herself up and fell to the ground on the inside. The lid clattered back into place, but Mayzy peeked her head back out a few seconds later. "You coming?"

I nodded slowly before standing up and pulling my body off the ground and into the dumpster.

I was asleep before I hit the metal.


End file.
